


Third Time's The Charm, Right?

by Changing



Series: Family Bonds [3]
Category: Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures
Genre: Broadway, Eventual Romance, F/M, gala - Freeform, idk how tags work, they're falling in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29542419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Changing/pseuds/Changing
Summary: Babs and Yakko run into each other at an event.Is it finally the right time for these dorks to get together?This one actually works really well as a stand alone piece.
Relationships: Babs Bunny/Yakko Warner
Series: Family Bonds [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156019
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Third Time's The Charm, Right?

“Please just remember to stick to your end of the deal, ok?” Yakko sighed as his friend bound ahead yet again. They entered the ballroom which was impeccably decorated and full of toons and humans of varying star quality. 

V was a cool girl, when she was able to keep that cool. Unfortunately, she was also terribly starstruck. The day they met she hadn’t been able to stop staring at him. It was sweet at first and quickly became creepy when she started quoting Animaniacs. But as they got to know each other, she mellowed out around him and they grew into a relaxed friendship. 

The catalyst was Yakko’s lamenting to another castmate about the last few girls he had asked out.

“I just don’t get it, Jims! How do I keep running into these fantastic women who all turn out to be gay? I mean, the first time I figured she just wasn’t interested but didn’t wanna say it. But for it to happen 5 times?!”

“Maybe you’re going to the wrong bars, man. Some gay bars hide in plain sight.”

“Or maybe they think you’re gay.” V interrupted.

Yakko stood stunned for a moment before squeezing out an, “Excuse me?” 

“Well, I mean, look at you! You’ve got decent fashion sense, you’ve got a higher toned voice, you’re easy to be around and you’re a guy in musical theatre. I mean…Hell, I thought you were.”

Yakko mulled it over, “I see your point.” 

“But if you’re a lesbian magnet, I think I can help. I’ve got excellent gay-dar.”

Yakko cocked an eyebrow, “Is gay-dar really a thing?”

“Uh, yeah! It comes with being a lesbian! You’re issued a gay-dar in excellent condition the day you come out of the closet.”

James snickered and even Yakko stifled a smirk, “Alright, alright. Would you mind helping this poor, gay-appearing sap find a straight girl in this town?”

“If it means you help me get laid in return.”

“Deal!” They shook hands, laughed and that was the start of a beautiful friendship.

If he was being honest, Yakko wasn’t even sure he wanted to be at this party but it had been a while since he’d gotten to play the ‘Warner’ card to get into a swanky event. He had intended to have Dot come with him but she had a commitment to a friend come up last minute. 

So, he figured, if he was going to bring a plus one, that maybe, it’d be a good way to get V comfortable with the semi-famous. Somehow he didn’t expect her to be quite so excited and when he could finally breathe again after being nearly crushed by the lioness toon in what can only be described as a bear hug, he gave her the details and they made another deal.

“You can come with IF you can be cool around folks you may have seen on TV or in the movies, get it?”

“Got it!”

“Good.”

He really didn’t know why he thought this was a good idea.

“Oh my god!” V stopped short on their way into the room, Yakko bumped into her, annoyed. “What?”

V pointed ahead of them and he let out a gasp. Several feet away through the crowd he caught a glimpse of the light pink fur and long ears. Standing at a tall table with a couple of human toons, in a slinky black silk dress that ruffled and draped over just the right places; was Babs Bunny. 

As if cued, she started laughing at something one of the other toons said and Yakko swore he could feel his heart swell. 

Still smiling, she happened to look his way. Their eyes met and hers widened with recognition, her smile grew too and she waved.

Without looking away, Yakko asked V slowly and intently, “Would you like to meet Babs Bunny?” 

Without waiting for an answer, he crossed the room with long strides, deftly avoiding people. V slipped by the crowd just behind him, only narrowly avoiding bumping into anyone.

He got right in front of Babs and stopped suddenly. Unsure of how to continue. Surely they were close enough that a handshake made no sense, but could he hug her? He wasn’t so worried about how it would look, more than he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to let her go.

Babs was facing the same predicament but it was now taking too long to go without any kind of greeting so she extended her hand, not to shake but for him to take. He responded instantly, eagerly, taking her gloved hand and placing a chaste kiss to her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers.

“It’s good to see your face.” She breathed.

“You’re wearing your gloves,” he noted. She never wore gloves during Tiny Toons and even more rarely off set. It was a status symbol amongst toons, and was seen as quite the honor.

However, a growing trend among young female toons in the 90s, was to go without gloves. An act of rebellion against the societal status the gloves represented and a way of sticking it to the man dominated field of animation. 

“Yeah.” She sighed, “New York is a bit more traditional, shall we say. Some big names at this party, gotta play the part,” giving a bit of jazz hands showing off the pure white gloves. Yakko nodded his understanding, smiling like an idiot and completely unaware of his surroundings.

V cleared her throat. Yakko snapped back to reality.

“Oh, V, sorry. Uh, Babs, this is V, V this is-” V grabbed Babs’ hand and started shaking it enthusiastically.

“THE Babs Bunny! Oh man I can’t believe I’m meeting you! I loved Tiny Toons back in the day I mean, you were an inspiration!”

V, huh? Babs thought. She’s quite bubbly, and apparently very talkative. Wonder if she was like this when she met Yakko. They seem quite close, how long has he been seeing her? 

She’s a bit alternative, Babs didn’t realize he’d go for a punk kind of girl. Then again, how long had it been since they had a solid conversation? Damn, this girl was strong too. Babs felt her shoulder getting tired already.

Babs was gracious with his overzealous friend, and Yakko appreciated it, but enough was enough. 

He placed a gentle hand on V’s shoulder, saying, “Hey, cool it with the fangirling, huh?”

V blushed and dropped Babs’ hand like it was a hot coal. “Heh, sorry! It’s not every day you get to meet your heroes, ha!” she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly looking at the floor.

“Thanks, V, that’s really sweet. Speaking of heroes, I thought I spotted Daphne Blake and her newest arm candy,” Babs nodded in the general direction and sure enough, there they were. 

He looked to V who was practically vibrating with excitement, eyes shifting between him and the bar as if asking for permission to go and talk to them. 

Yakko sighed, “Just, be cool?” 

“Cool as the Arctic!” She agreed and practically ran across the room. 

V was immediately scooped up into the conversation with Daphne and her date, clearly overjoyed and bursting at the seams. They seemed mutually enthusiastic to meet the lioness and Yakko hid a laugh.

Babs dug for something kind to say, settling on, “Your date seems nice.” 

Yakko shook his head, a teasing smile on his face, “You’re not, not jealous again are you?”

“Haha. No," Babs shook her head, "really though, she’s uh…”

“A lesbian.”

“Huh?”

“She’s gay as all get out, if you couldn’t tell. Not as much of a date, as a friend. Met her doing improv.” 

Babs blushed, suddenly the pixie cut and side shave made sense. 

"You know, V practically begged me for an invite when she heard who might be here.” 

“Oh, who's that?” Babs asked, not yet sure where he was going.

“You may know her, she’s a schmoozy young producer type- used to be on TV as a kid- bit of a sniper too; I hear she got hot.”

“Ah, right." She smirked, "Wouldn’t be that Babs Bunny bint, would it?”

“Do you know her?! Think you could introduce us?”

“Sure, why not? Hey, I heard another wash up from Warner Brothers is expected tonight. In fact, I think it’s one of them.”

“One of who?”

“The Warner brothers.”

“Oh God, I hope it’s not that Yakko hack! Man, is that guy annoying. Ego bigger than the Goodyear blimp! How anyone can stand to work with that guy, I’ll never know.” They shared a silent smile for a beat before breaking into laughter. 

“How have you been?”/”You look great, Babs.” He blushed, she laughed again, “You first, Goodyear Ego.”

“Heh, yeah. Eeeehhh to answer your question, good! Been keeping busy, Wakko et al are scoring an album, Dot’s hearing back from colleges so that’s been exciting and-"

"Did she get Stanford!?” 

Yakko blinked at her, confused by how she knew that. 

“Ah, I mean, which ones accepted?” She said with feigned innocence. Apparently when Dot said girls talk….

“She did get Stanford, and Julliard to keep her around. She thinks I don't know but she's been eyeing TV and film gigs back west. She’s literally all over the place, heh. Guess we’ll be giving LA a visit soon. Say, what are you doing all the way out here in not-so-sunny New York?”

“Wow, congrats to her! Totally deserved.” Babs said, a huge prideful smile on her face, “I’m here for the same reason all schmoozey people are in New York; I’m working on a job.”

Yakko couldn’t quite hide the ear perk, “A stage job?” What happened to TV?"

Babs nodded, “Tv is still happening but I don't know, Broadway feels….bigger right now. So I'm focused on that kind of show. A musical."

“Let me guess, you can’t tell me a single thing about it but now that I know you’re going to hold it over my head like a dog with a bone?” 

“I thought you might be interested. And no, I can’t tell you much but….I do know Biff wants to get the studio’s endorsement AND you” she poked his chest, “Would be the key to that.”

“Why me?”

“Well, technically, us. Apparently, Steven loves to find random projects to support and if we’re still on his good side AND he loves the concept, he might just give us a boost. But I don’t think he’s willing to try to pull the studio in on me alone." She looked down with a grimace. 

After her initial false start, she really couldn't blame the guy. She was lucky he took her call at all.

"It’s….not a safe kind of project,” She continued, “then again, he never goes for those, which means this will intrigue him at least. But having a major ToonTown endorsement would just make everything...easier. And having another familiar face on the project will make getting Steven and Warner Brothers invested a synch.”

“Ok, you’ve certainly piqued my curiosity. But now I need to know more!” Yakko practically whined, in a sudden 180 he gave her a coy look and dropped his voice, “Any chance I could bribe you,” he stepped closer, leaned against the standing table, bringing them fairly close and brushed a bit of her hair from her face, “with a good drink?” His brow wagging.

Damn he smelled nice. Like rosemary with something sweet underneath, but not sickenly so. She resisted the urge to bury her nose in his fur, hold him close and just take in the warmth of him. She was here on business, she chided herself. Not that. But if he wanted to play games….

“‘Fraid not, I am sworn to secrecy,” a grin snaked across her face. She was impressed at how steady her voice managed to sound as she ran a few fingers from his shoulder down to his forearm. “But Biff is here tonight,” she ducked her head down watching her hand trail down just before reaching his wrist, "I'm sure he'd love to share as much as we can." 

Despite his better instincts, Yakko found himself watching her hand too and by the time he looked back to her she was looking up at him with sultry, brilliant blue eyes in an intense gaze. 

He shuddered. 

Damn it. 

This was a bad idea. This was playing with fire. And by God he wanted to get burned.

His hands tingled with the urge to grab a hold of her hand and press a trail of kisses up to her shoulder, along her neck to those lips, the memory of which still taunted him. He wanted to wrap himself up in her and never leave. He pushed through the urge. 

He was trying to tease her, damn it. Just because she was gorgeous and funny and brilliant and working him like a toy and smelled like a dream, did not mean he would succumb!

“Yakko, my boy!” Yakko scrambled to appear professional just before being slammed on the back by the large, robust toon man. Biff had acted as something between an agent and producer on the Warner Brothers lot when Tiny Toons and Animaniacs were filming. Yakko couldn’t say that he trusted the man much but he had been Yakko's ticket to stage work before, and he did trust Babs.

“Biff,” he choked out. “How’ve ya been?” He turned to straighten and offer the larger man a handshake. 

"Good. Great now that I see you're here, son," Biff, "I bet Babs already mentioned we got the best concept to tell you about, hell, just come on board and we'll iron out the details later, what do you say?"

Yakko laughed, same old Biff.

"Ehhhh, you know, Biff, I would love some idea of what it is I'm doing," he glanced at Babs who was shaking her head exacerbated. 

"Alright, alright," Biff waved him off, "But what's to know? It's a musical, it's New York and Babsy here has her name on the project," Biff was playing it incredibly tight lipped.

Babs felt the need to step in "Comeon Biff, I think we can trust him to know at least the….underlying goal of the show."

Biff and Babs shared a knowing glance; her's pleading with an air of sultriness and his stoney and unreadable.

"Tell you what," Biff broke the mounting silence, "you kids find a cozy corner and you can tell him what the show is for," Biff gave her a hard look, "Not a word more, capiche?"

Babs nodded resolutely and took Yakko's hand. Biff shot him a wink. "And strictly business, kids!" He called after them.

Cozy corner. Yakko felt himself blush; he could imagine some delightful activities a cozy corner would be well suited for. 

Especially with Babs.

They slipped behind one of the curtains hiding the wall and out a fire exit door which Babs propped open with a pen from her bag.

It was certainly more chill than the day had been. Babs shivered but kept her cool.

"So, I told you it's not a safe project-" her teeth threatened to chatter. Yakko shook his head.

"Are you cold?" He didn't really wait for an answer before slipping out of his suit jacket and draping it over her bare shoulders.

Unconsciously, Babs snuggled into the jacket, "Thanks. As I was saying, it's a risk but it's worth the risk. It could open doors for toons on Broadway that no one could have imagined. Biff's hope is, with your involvement it'll spark folks to remember the success of Les Misertoons and trust it'll be a great show."

He nodded, "getting people in the door to experience the show."

"Right! I know it sounds a bit like name dropping but you're actually talented alongside being known so it evens out."

Yakko watched her intently, it clearly meant a lot to her, she was so fired up talking about it, but there was still something she wasn't saying.

He crossed his arms, more so against the cold than an indicator of his attitude, "So what's the catch?"

Babs took a deep breath "A mixed cast."

Toons had on occasion participated in ensemble bits or moments on stage before alongside a human cast but certainly not on Broadway and they was almost always a studio face like Mickey Mouse or Bugs. 

Humans preferred that toons stuck to their own shows, specifically, animation.

Les Misertoons had been a smash but it was so almost by complete chance. If the timing hadn't been right, it would have been a for sure flop. Not to mention it started off Broadway and featured a strictly all toon cast and crew.

"How mixed?"

"Toon led with a human/toon ensemble?" Yakko's eyes shot open.

"Are you insane?"

"I told you it's a risk-"

"A risk? Babs, a show like that can be career suicide!"

"That's why we are getting the ducks in a row, so to speak. You are our biggest bartering chip. You're experienced and talented enough to be trusted leading a show. Not to mention the whole, saving ToonTown thing…." 

Babs looked him dead in the eye, "You said it yourself, we made a great team before, I'm asking you to be on my team now."

Yakko was unsure. It was so much more than risky; it was poking at a decades old, contentious point between toons and humans. 

Hell, when Warner Brothers took the plunge on integrating live action with toons, Hollywood nearly had a conniption. 

When toons moved to Broadway in the 70s and 80s, even more uproar was received. But lower class toons, those with less capacity for toon antics, who weren't capable of surviving the strains of animation, stood their ground and were ultimately granted space.

They barely got Les Misertoons mounted being a fully toon cast. One of the bigger issues being that the cast included a few class A toons, like Yakko. Not to mention humans doubted their ability to handle the intricate and serious subject matter; they didn't sell out a house for nearly a month.

Not only was Babs seeking to do what had never been done, she was intending on doing so with at least one Class A toon at the lead of what might be the first truly mixed cast in Broadway history.

And those blue eyes were practically glowing with hope in the hazy street lamp's light. He sighed. He had to know.

"Why is this so important to you?"

Babs thought for a moment choosing her words carefully, "Because toons are treated as second rate citizens. Hell, we aren't even citizens in most places. Laws that could help us don't apply in the same way and yet we are expected to follow them to the letter? There is no law against this. And we could cause a shift in human/toon relations."

Babs stood up straighter and taller than he imagined she could, "I'm not a lawyer, and I can't change the laws but I will be damned if I don't take the steps I can toward equal footing. And you, specifically, have a habit of making history."

Yakko was in awe. And quite possibly in love. She was outstanding and she believed so heavily in this. She believed he had a part to play. And she wasn't wrong. 

He and his sibs stumbled into the studio's line of sight, their show cracked the code for modernizing classic comedy, he starred in the very first toon production on Broadway, and stopped the Phantom Blot from committing genocide.

"Ok. I'm in."

He felt dizzy, he blamed it on her throwing her arms around him while clad in his sportcoat. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She came back to her feet, "You won't regret it."

An upbeat, swinging jazz tune floated through the propped open door and Yakko's ear perked, smirking, he offered his hand, "Dance with me?" 

"I thought you'd never ask." Babs swung off his jacket and they went back inside. It didn't take long for the two to start having fun with the dance.

It was like a volley, passing the lead between them back and forth with ease. Fluidly creating a performance of it. They seemed to read each other's minds as they danced.

He was caught entirely off guard by just how easy it was to trust her and once again astounded and how perfectly she fit against him each time they came together to be twirled apart.

They trailed along the dance floor in their own little world. The song didn’t matter, the job didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Yakko saw only soft pink and bright blue and radiant smiles.

The song had ended but they stayed together, swaying. Eyes glued to one another. Yakko felt himself getting lost in the sea of blue behind her eyes and gently moved an errant lock of hair away from them.

She felt so right pressed to him like this. She just fit around him. Her arms draped around his shoulders, the smell of her; roses and ink and spearmint, set his mind ablaze. His one hand around her waist, pressed against her back, the other now tracing a line along her jaw. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have sworn they were drawn for each other. 

She’d moved her free hand against his chest, just over his heart. He blushed, knowing she could pick up his rapid pulse if she wanted to. 

But Babs didn’t have quite that much focus available. Nothing and no one had ever felt so right. An unusual thought crossed her mind; she could get used to this. 

Looking up at him she nearly laughed. She was always caught off guard by how soulful black eyes could be, she found herself blushing realizing all of that warmth and sweetness was somehow for her. 

Her eyes flickered to his lips, she caught him looking at hers and breathed out a laugh, they leaned forward-

“See Babsy, I told you! You two look great together!” 

They jumped apart. One second, they were a mere moment away and now they stood just close enough for her hand to brush against his.

Gathering herself, Babs turned to Biff, “And I told you, I’m off stage now, Biff.” She was clearly annoyed, still flushed in the face “I’m not your leading lady!” 

Biff clapped a hand on Yakko’s shoulder, “Come on, son, don’t you think you two would simply shine on a stage together?” 

“I eeeeeehhh, I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to work with Babs in any capacity. On stage or off.” 

“Smart answer, kiddo. Always keep the lady happy,” Biff laughed, “Except in this go ‘round." He stepped around Yakko toward Babs, "Babs, last shot, kid.” She nearly protested before Biff waved it off, 

“Yeah, yeah I know you don’t want the spotlight, can’t for the life of me figure out why though. It’s all you were gunnin’ for as a kid. More screen time, more credit, more to learn, more to do. Well, produce AND be the face of this show! You wanna show those young toons that they can do it themselves someday? Do it all! Show humanity and toons alike what a toon can do when they put their mind to it!"

Those warm blue eyes were now sharply pointed at Biff who held strong under the icy gaze. They seemed to communicate telepathically. Yakko was impressed and mildly creeped out

Ultimately, Babs narrowed her eyes and said stiffly, “I’ll sleep on it and get back to you in the morning.” Biff shook her hand. 

“I’ll be holding you to that! Have a good rest of your evening, kids” He said with another wink to Yakko, and swaggered off.

Babs huffed and crossed her arms. “Oooh, the nerve. And you! What the hell was that?”

Yakko prayed his charm might actually sway her and turned it on. Drawing in a sultry voice with an arm around her shoulder, “Hey! Starring in a show across Babs Bunny? How could I say no?”

“If you were an idiot,” Babs sighed with a grin, then it faltered “I can’t believe he got me to think about it.”

“Sounds like he knows just how to getcha.” Yakko nudged her as they walked out toward the door. “‘Show young toons what they can do someday’ huh?”

"Oh cannit will you?"

Yakko laughed. They walked another moment in silence to the coat check, Babs handed over her ticket and without thinking, Yakko helped Babs into her coat. ‘Speaking of ‘someday.’ 

“So, would you, uh, do you want to eat dinner sometime? I mean, obviously you eat dinner but I mean with me, specifically?"

“Oh. Yakko, I’m-”

He was suddenly flustered, ‘oh god I’m too late!’, “Y-you’re not seeing anyone are you?”

“No! No, I’m not dating. At all.” she said sharply. With implied finality. She didn’t mean at all, at all, right?

“What about tonight?” Yakko tried. Surely she had felt it especially when they danced. “I thought it was incredible, the dance was amazing and- and the way you looked at me tonight I-” 

Babs had a look. The kind of look someone gives you when they know something and telling you will be upsetting. 

He’s the one who called her ‘schmoozey’ after all.

It clicked. 

“Tonight was….business.” He pieced together slowly.

"I'm sorry, Yakko, I-" 

"I can't keep doing this.” He said more to himself than to her, “I can't keep seeing you and pretending there's nothing there. Or keep waiting around for us to finally be on the same page.” His voice was threatening to jump up an octave, he was getting upset. With a deep breath he calmed himself, “We said we could give it a shot someday, why not today?"

Babs stood silent absorbing what he said. She didn’t know what to say. She felt herself shaking. She was torn. She wanted this, wanted him. But she wanted her dream fulfilled too; she wanted to make a name for herself beyond Tiny Toons, beyond Warner Brothers; to see works created that she knew would have inspired herself and have them inspire a new generation of toons. 

She wanted to change the world. She didn't have time for love.

They did say someday and then she wasted time with someone else. And when she had the chance to be honest, she didn’t ask. She was scared. 

No. No, she isn’t scared. 

She’s determined. Determined to create her own life and she’d be damned if some guy was going to drag her away from that.

"I...I'm building a career here, Yakko, I don’t know what you want me to-"

"How does having a career mean I can't take you to dinner? Or enjoy your company when you can spare it, how does it stop me from loving you!” He slammed his mouth shut and looked away. That was the exact wrong thing to say. 

Oh, he was going to regret this.

Babs just stared at him dumbfounded, mouth open, eyes wide and unseeing. Seconds passed. 

They felt like hours. 

“You….love me?” Her mouth was moving but her voice sounded far, far away.

“I'm not saying I do but oh,” Yakko let out a shaky almost laugh, “I could. I really, really could, Babs.” He looked up at her, trembling, “If you gave me the chance, I could love you forever.” 

He meant it. 

Yakko was a master of putting on a front, if he didn’t want you to see how he felt you wouldn’t. But standing before her was someone without a single wall up. No mask, no charm. 

Just Yakko.

He meant it.

If she gave him the chance.

She couldn’t stay here. She felt nauseous, dizzy, too warm, too intense. He wanted to love her but didn’t yet? What was he saying? Was he trying to tell her if not now, then never?

Too many questions, not enough answers, not enough air! 

Her eyes were so full of tears that blinking through them stung and brought red heat trailing down her cheeks. The pain brought the core question to the surface;

Could she let him love her?

“...I can’t…” was all she got out before turning and walking away as fast as she could.

Leaving Yakko slack jawed, tears forming a lump in his throat. He couldn’t say anything. 

And for the first time, he didn’t want to.

**Author's Note:**

> I....I have no excuses.


End file.
